Borough President Releases Recommendations For 80 Flatbush

[UPDATED: Monday, June 18 at 9:45am] In response to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams’ recommendations, Alloy Development CEO Jared Della Valle said, “We appreciate that the Borough President took the time to review our application and that his decision acknowledges the pressing need for the public benefits included in our proposal. We also appreciate that the decision reflects the widespread support we’ve received for the project, both in the neighborhood and citywide. The consensus among those supporters is that building in Downtown Brooklyn along Flatbush Avenue and across from one of the largest transit hubs in the city to deliver much-needed affordable housing, two public schools and cultural space makes 80 Flatbush a model for thoughtful urban planning and development.”

BOERUM HILL – Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams released his advisory recommendations on the proposed 80 Flatbush project Friday afternoon.

As part of the ULURP [Uniform Land Use Review Procedure] process, Adams’ response is to disapprove the proposed development with conditions. The Borough President’s response states “while his administration encourages transit-oriented development that produces affordable housing and commercial space, as well as supports the creation of much-needed school space for Khalil Gibran International Academy in addition to a new elementary school for Community School District 15 (CSD 15), [Adams] believes this project should also be considerate of the low-density context of the contiguous Boerum Hill community.”

Alloy Development plans to build two new mixed-use towers on the site, one 38 stories and the other 74 stories. 80 Flatbush would include 700 market-rate apartments and 200 permanently affordable units and feature a 15,000-square-foot cultural space, 40,000-square-foot ground floor commercial/retail space, and two schools—a 350-seat elementary school and a new facility for the Khalil Gibran International Academy High School.

Alloy is requesting that the project site—bounded by Flatbush Avenue, State Street, 3rd Avenue, and Schermerhorn Street—be rezoned to allow the project to rise much higher than the current zoning allows. The taller of the two proposed new towers would stand 986 feet tall.

Adams is calling for a “reduction in the bulk and height of the proposed skyscraper on 3rd Avenue,” recommending a cap of 600 feet (one-third less than the proposed height for the tower) that would be comparable to The Hub, the adjacent 55-story, 610-foot-tall tower located at 333 Schermerhorn Street. One Hanson Place stands 512 feet tall—neighbors do not want the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank clocktower blocked by the new development.

He is also asking that the proposed elementary school be moved to the 3rd Avenue side of the development and requesting that the Department of Education (DOE) commit to funding the new elementary school to offset the current deal in which the NYC Educational Construction Fund (ECF) will build the two new schools without using capital funding from DOE. A reduction in ECF funding in the project “would help advance a reduction in the project’s overall height and bulk,” according to the release announcing Adams’ decision.

To address school overcrowding, Adams is also asking DOE and the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) to work with Brooklyn Community Board 6 in initiating “public consideration for the siting of public schools as part of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)’s Next Gen initiative Wyckoff Gardens RFP sites and the pending NYU Langone-Cobble Hill emergency room development site.”

The Borough President’s recommendations also stress the importance of ensuring quality-of-life for State Street residents including a rat mitigation plan during construction and locating the project’s loading docks onto Schermerhorn instead of State Street. He’s also asking for the construction of a new subway entrance for the Atlantic Avenue/Barclays Center station to reduce congestion and consideration of open public space at Willoughby Square.

Regarding the project’s 200 proposed permanently affordable apartments, Adams would like to see preference go to families with children, very low-income seniors, formerly homeless applicants, as well as Gowanus Houses and Wyckoff Gardens residents.